16 Therefore the Lord, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:

There will be wailing in all the public squares;(A)
they will cry out in anguish[a] in all the streets.
The farmer will be called on to mourn,(B)
and professional mourners[b](C) to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards,(D)
for I will pass among you.(E)
The Lord has spoken.

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!(F)
What will the day of the Lord be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.(G)
19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion(H)
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
20 Won’t the day of the Lord
be darkness rather than light,(I)
even gloom without any brightness in it?(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 5:16 Lit will say, “Alas! Alas!”
  2. 5:16 Lit and those skilled in lamentation

16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing(A) in all the streets(B)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(C) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(D) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through(E) your midst,”
says the Lord.(F)

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!(G)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(H)
    That day will be darkness,(I) not light.(J)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,(K)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.(L)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(M) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(N)

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